The Gangstas
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| The Gangstas | |
|---|---|
| Tag team | |
| Members | New Jack Mustafa Saed |
| Billed heights | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) – New Jack 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) - Mustafa |
| Combined billed weight | 505 lb (229 kg) |
| Former member(s) | D'Lo Brown |
| Debut | June 1994 |
| Disbanded | 1997 |
The Gangstas was a professional wrestling tag team and stable, consisting of New Jack and Mustafa Saed in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW). The group originally started as a three man group with D'Lo Brown in Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW).
Professional wrestling career
Smoky Mountain Wrestling (1994-1995)
SMW was the birthplace of the controversial "Gangstas" gimmick, where the African American wrestlers New Jack, Mustafa and "Uptown" D'Lo Brown would cut promos about activist Medgar Evers and O.J. Simpson to infuriate the southern white crowd. They would use fried chicken and watermelons as props and win matches as a result of a two count (rather than the conventional three count), purportedly due to Affirmative Action. Ring announcers would, on more than one occasion, confuse their hometown as being Louisiana (LA) instead of Los Angeles (L.A.) which would entice New Jack to verbally abuse the announcer.
Extreme Championship Wrestling (1995-1997)
New Jack and Mustafa left SMW in a controversial fashion,[1] which escalated the long standing dispute between Paul Heyman and Jim Cornette. In ECW, the now two-man team were known for bringing weapons such as guitars, crutches and staple guns in trash cans and shopping carts to the ring, while the song "Natural Born Killaz" would play through their matches.[2][3] In a distinct difference from SMW, they were embraced as heroes by the northeastern crowd, and the team went on to hold the ECW World Tag Team Championship multiple times.
Split, solo careers and reunion
The team split in 1997 when Mustafa left ECW. New Jack found a new partner in John Kronus of The Eliminators, who like New Jack was left without a partner after the other half of The Eliminators, Perry Saturn, left ECW. Kronus and New Jack became known as The Gangstanators (a portmanteau of Gangstas and Eliminators) and held the ECW World Tag Team Championship once. With Mustafa gone, New Jack went on to greater fame, continuing to use the Gangsta gimmick. New Jack become a surprise attraction at Pay-Per-Views, and was known for answering open challenges by heels and doing run-ins to save babyfaces with his various weapons, to the crowd's delight. In 1999, The two former team mates began a feud when Mustafa returned for a brief while.
Independent circuit
On May 24, 2008, the Gangstas reunited for the first time in over 10 years at Xtreme Pro Wrestling's "Cold Day in Hell" in a match against the Westside NGZ.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
On August 8, 2010, the team made an appearance at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice, assaulting Team 3D and Joel Gertner after a match. After the beatdown, Team 3D, The Gangsta's, Kahoneys and Axl Rotten celebrated in the ring.[4]
Championships and accomplishments
- Other titles
- NGWA Tag Team Championship (1 time)
See also
References
- ^ Williams, Scott (2006). Hardcore History. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 63. ISBN 978-1-59670-021-5.
- ^ Williams, Scott (2006). Hardcore History. Sports Publishing LLC. p. 64. ISBN 978-1-59670-021-5.
- ^ Loverro, Thom (2006). The Rise and Fall of ECW. Pocket Books. p. 100. ISBN 978-1-4165-1058-1.
- ^ Caldwell, James (2010-08-08). "Caldwell's TNA Hardcore Justice PPV results 8/8: Ongoing "virtual time" coverage of ECW-themed PPV headlined by RVD vs. Sabu". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2010-08-08.
- ^ "ECW World Tag Team Title". Wrestling Titles. Retrieved 2008-05-06.